Tag Archives: Texas Ebola

On Monday, a nurse in Spain was the first person to be diagnosed outside the outbreak zone in West Africa, raising further concerns across the globe, according to the Associate Press, New concern worldwide as nurse in Spain gets Ebola. In the U.S., President Barack Obama said the government is weighing an order for more careful screening of airline passengers arriving from he region. In dealing with potential Ebola cases, Obama said, “we don’t have a lot of margin for error.” Already hospitalized in the U.S., a critically ill Liberian man, Thomas Duncan, has received an experimental drug in Dallas as another American video journalist who returned from Liberia arrived Monday at the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment has shown signs of improvement. Ashoka Mukpo, 33, was able to walk off the plane before being loaded on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance, and his father said his symptoms of fever and nausea appeared mild. The Spanish nurse had been part of a team that treated two missionaries flown home to Span after contracting Ebola in West Africa. The nurse only showed signs of fever, but the infection was confirmed by two tests, according to Spanish health officials. She was being treated in isolation, while authorities drew up a list of people she had had contact with. Medical workers in Texas were among Americans waiting to find out whether they had been infected by Duncan, the African traveler. In Washington, the White House continued to rule out any blanket ban on travel from West Africa. People leaving the outbreak zone are checked for fevers before they’re allowed to board airplanes, but the disease’s incubation period is 21 days and symptoms could arise later. Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles International Airport, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has had employees on site at more than a dozen major international airports in the U.S. like LAX for many years. Screening of passengers starts with Customs and Border Protection agents, who work with CDC when they have a case they are concerned about. Obama said the U.S. will be “working on protocols to do additional passenger screening both at the source and here in the United States.” The Obama administration maintains that the best way to protect Americans is to end the outbreak in Africa. To that end, the U.S. military was working Monday on the first of 17 promised medical centers in Liberia and training up to 4,000 soldiers this week to help with the Ebola crisis. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “The tragedy of this situation is that Ebola is rapidly spreading among populations in West African who don’t have that kind of medical infrastructure.” The virus has taken a heavy toll on health care workers in a region where shortages of doctors and nurses before Ebola were rampant and so far the disease has killed or sickened more than 370 in the hardest hit countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Airlines have dealt with previous epidemics, such as the 2003 outbreak in Asia of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. The U.S. didn’t ban flights or impose extra screening on passengers during the SARS outbreak or the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Both of those were airborne diseases that spread more easily than the Ebola virus, which is spread by contact with bodily fluids. The SARS death rate was about 10 percent, higher for older patients. Its new relative MERS, now spreading in the Middle East, appears to be more deadly, about 40 percent. About half of people infected with Ebola have died in this outbreak. The Ebola outbreak this year has killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa, the World Health Organization estimates, and it has become an escalating concern to the rest of the world. Mukpo is the fifth American sick with Ebola brought back from West Africa for medical care. The others were aid workers – three have recovered and one remains hospitalized. On Tuesday, Reuters reports, More cases of Ebola in Europe unavoidable: WHO, the World Health Organization believes more cases Ebola will likely occur in Europe but the continent is well prepared to control the disease. Speaking to Reuters just hours after Europe’s first local case of Ebola infection was confirmed in a nurse in Spain, the WHO’s European director, Zsuzsanna Jakab, said further such events were “unavoidable”. Spanish health officials said four people had been hospitalized to try and stem any further spread of Ebola there after the nurse became the first person in the world known to have contracted the virus outside of Africa. Jakab told Reuters via phone interview for her Copenhagen office: “Such imported cases and similar events as have happened in Spain will happen also in the future, most likely. It is quite unavoidable … that such incidents will happen in the future because of the extensive travel both from Europe to the affected countries and the other way around.” Several countries in the WHO’s European region, including France, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Spain, have treated patients repatriated after contracting the disease in West Africa, where Ebola has been raging through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since March. Cases have also been imported into Nigeria, Senegal and the United States. Jakab said that within Europe, health workers caring for repatriated Ebola patients, as well as their families and close contacts, were most at risk of becoming infected. With case numbers in the West Africa rising exponentially, experts say it is only a matter of time before Ebola spreads internationally, but they stress the chances of sporadic cases leading to an outbreak in Europe, the United States or elsewhere beyond Africa are extremely low. Jakab added, “If they see any need for support or advice, we are always behind them. We are well prepared. I really don’t think that at this stage we should be worried about these particular cases. This was to be expected. We expected it in other parts of the region – and it came in Spain, but it did not come totally as surprise.”

While it seems the threat of Ebola can be controlled through a coordinated effort, the threat of ISIS seems far from under anyone’s control as the group captures new territory raising concerns for Turkey. On Monday Daren Butler reports, Islamic State raises flag in eastern Kobani, Kurds say town has not fallen, the Islamic State after a three week assault has raised its flag on a building on the outskirts of the Syrian frontier town of Kobani, but the town’s Kurdish defenders said its fighters had not reached the city center. A black flag was visible from across the Turkish border atop a four story building close to the scene of some of the most intense fighting in recent days. American and Gulf State warplane air strikes have failed to halt the assault on Kobani which it has surrounded on three sides and pounded with heavy artillery. Local sources inside Kobani confirmed that the group had plants its flag, but Kurdish forced had repelled further advances. Ismail Eskin, a journalist in the town, said, “ISIL have only planted a flag on one building. That is not inside the city, it’s on the eastern side. They are not inside the city. Intense clashes are continuing. The bodies of 25 (Islamic State) fighters are there.” Despite the presence of Turkish tanks along the border and within sight of the town, Kurdish please for more effective military help have gone unanswered. Islamic State also fought intense battles over the weekend for control of Mistanour, a strategic hill overlooking Kobani. Beheadings, mass killings and torture have spread fear of the group across the region, with villages emptying at their approach and an estimated 180,000 people fleeing into Turkey from the Kobani region. Turkish hospitals have been treating a steady stream of wounded Kurdish fighters being brought across the frontier. Esmat al-Sheikh, head of the Kobani Defense Authority, said via phone early Monday: “If they enter Kobani, it will be a graveyard for us and for them. We will not let them enter Kobani as long as we live. We either win or die. We will resist to the end.” Last Week, the co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) told Reuters that Islamic State had a large arsenal from its de facto capital Raqqa to assault Kobani. Asya Abdullah said, “If (Islamic State) is defeated here in Kobani, it will be defeated in Raqqa and throughout Syria. We are happy about the U.S. air strikes. But really, this is not enough. We need more air strikes to be effective against (Islamic State) weapons, to eradicate and destroy (them).” On Monday, Kurdish politicians confirmed that the PYD’s other co-chair, Saleh Muslim, had met Turkish officials to urge them to allow weapons into Kobani from Turkey, although no further details were available. Over the weekend, President Tayyip Erdogan vowed to retaliate if Islamic State attacked Turkish forces, and on Monday Turkish tanks deployed along the border for the second time in a week, some with guns pointing towards Syria, apparently in response to stray fire. Last month, the Islamic State group released 46 Turkish hostages and a parliamentary motion last week renewed a mandate to allow Turkish troops to cross into Syria and Iraq leasing many to believe Ankara may be planning a more active role. According to Butler: “For three decades, Ankara has fought an armed insurgency by its own Kurdish PKK militants demanding greater autonomy in Turkey’s southeast. Analysts say it is now wary of helping Syrian Kurdish forces near Kobani as they have strong links with the PKK and have maintained ambiguous relations with Assad, to whom Turkey is implacably opposed. Against that are warnings from the leaders of Turkey’s Kurds that allowing Syria’s Kurds to be driven from Kobani would spell the end of Erdogan’s delicately poised drive to negotiate an end to his own Kurdish insurgency and permanently disarm the PKK.” Ryan Gorman reports, ‘Boots in the air’: US combat troops engage ISIS rebels as Canada deploys soldiers to Iraq, the U.S. military has begun to fight ISIS in Iraq despite Obama’s promise to not put boots on the ground as Canada sends reinforcements to help in the fight. On Sunday, Army attack helicopters began an assault on insurgent positions outside Baghdad, according to Central Command announced. Early Monday, Canadian officials announces that an advanced team of hundreds of soldiers is also on its way to Iraq. This strike changes the U.S. strategy in Iraq from one of using drones and fighter jets for targeted air strikes to combat troops directly engaging the militants. News of the escalation by the Army came shortly before Canada announced plans to send an advance team of 600 soldiers to Iraq, according to the CBC. Previous reports suggested the Canadian military would not send ground combat troops abroad. But it was also previously reported the U.S. would not engage ISIS in ground combat. Turkey’s president on Tuesday said the Islamic State is about to capture the Syrian border town of Kobani where the Kurdish forces are outgunned and struggle to repel the extremists with limited aid from U.S. led coalition airstrikes, the Associate Press reports, Turkey: Syrian border town about to fall to IS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the coalition air campaign launched last month would not be enough to halt the Islamic State advance and called for greater cooperation with the Syrian opposition, which is fighting both the Islamic State and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad. Erdogan told Syrian refugees in the Turkish town of Gaziantep, near the border: “Kobani is about to fall. We asked for three things: one, for a no-fly zone to be created; two, for a secure zone parallel to the region to be declared; and for the moderate opposition in Syria and Iraq to be trained and equipped.” Erdogan said more than 200,000 people have fled the fighting in and around Kobani in recent weeks. Their flight is among the largest single exoduses of the three-year Syrian conflict. The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists across Syria, said Tuesday that 412 people have been killed since the Kobani fighting began.

As disease, war and famine are running rampant in much of the world and little justice can be found, the Supreme Court of the United States have finally done the best thing it could of possibly done…absolutely nothing. By the Supreme Court declining to review petitions from lower courts whose jurisdiction covers nearly a dozen states, the highest court in the land has made same sex marriage legal Monday in 11 additional states. Even though the decision was announced quietly, the resulting shock waves have reverberated across the nation, according to Ryan Gorman, Supreme Court effectively legalizes same-sex marriage in 11 more states. The court validated three federal appeals covering Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to Bloomberg. By declining to hear the petitions brought forth from the jurisdictions, the Supreme Court left intact appeals courts decisions to strike down same-sex marriage bans in the locales. Couples in those states should soon be able to obtain marriage licenses and be legally wed. The announcement led a large group of same-sex marriage supporters gathered outside the court to celebrate. They cheered, waved flags, hugged each other and embraced the landmark decision. Supreme Court and #SSM (a same-sex marriage hashtag) immediately shot to the top of trending topics in the United States on Twitter. A case can only be reviewed it at least four of the nine sitting justices want to hear it. The justices also did not signal if they would be willing to hear a same-sex marriage case in the future. No reason was given for the decision. The court has previously showed support for gay marriage when it struck down a federal law last year denying benefits to same-sex married couples. Refusing to hear an appeals on lower court decisions to strike down same-sex marriage bans sets a precedent. The remaining 20 states banning gay marriage will likely also be bound to appeals courts decisions should their bans be overturned. The unions are now legal in a total of 30 states, plus the District of Columbia. Same-sex couples in multiple states across America are getting married after Monday morning’s landmark Supreme Court decision to not hear same-sex marriage cases. Wyoming’s justification for not recognizing the marriage license applications is on the grounds it’s state constitution clearly defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The stipulation was originally made during the state’s founding in order to prevent polygamy. Legal experts believe an injunction will have to be granted by a federal court in order for same-sex marriages in the state to proceed. Monday’s non-decision came 16 years to the day that Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old college student, was tortured in Wyoming for being gay. He died six days later. It is not clear when marriage licenses will be issued to couples in the other states, while the remaining 20 states have constitutional bans on the unions. The Associate Press reports, Status of gay marriage in all 50 states, the number of states where the practice is legal has skyrocketed from 19 to 30, in addition to Washington, D.C. Here’s the legal status of gay marriage in all 50 states:

WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL (And when it was legalized):

– CALIFORNIA (2013)

– COLORADO (Oct. 6, 2014) – Pueblo and Larimer counties began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples Monday, although official guidance from state Attorney General John Suthers is still pending.

– INDIANA (Oct. 6, 2014) – Gov. Mike Pence reaffirmed his commitment to traditional marriage but said people are not free to disobey the Supreme Court decision to reject an appeal of a ruling striking down Indiana’s gay marriage ban. County clerks issued a few licenses to same-sex couples.

– IOWA (2009)

– KANSAS (Oct. 6, 2014) – The American Civil Liberties Union says the Supreme Court decision in the 10th Circuit cases affects Kansas because it’s in that circuit; the group plans to seek a federal court ruling to block Kansas’ constitutional ban on gay marriage. Gov. Sam Brownback was defiant, saying he swore to uphold the constitution, and some same-sex couples who applied for marriage licenses were turned away.

– MAINE (2012)

– MARYLAND (2013)

– MASSACHUSETTS (2004) – The first state to legalize gay marriage.

– MINNESOTA (2013)

– NEW HAMPSHIRE (2010)

– NEW JERSEY (2013)

– NEW MEXICO (2013)

– NEW YORK (2011)

– NORTH CAROLINA (Oct. 6, 2014) – The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina says it will seek an immediate ruling in federal court overturning the state’s ban. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has previously said he wouldn’t challenge such a ruling.

– SOUTH CAROLINA (Oct. 6, 2014) – A lawyer for a gay couple seeking to overturn the state’s ban on gay marriage said she will ask a federal judge to immediately rule in their favor. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said he will continue to fight to uphold the ban.

– UTAH (Oct. 6, 2014) – Gay couples in Utah began applying for marriage licenses, and a handful of same-sex weddings occurred in Salt Lake County after Gov. Gary Herbert directed state agencies to recognize the marriages Monday.

– VERMONT (2009) – The first state to offer civil unions, in 2001.

– VIRGINIA (Oct. 6, 2014) – Gay couples started marrying in Virginia. Thirty-year-old Lindsey Oliver and 42-year-old Nicole Pries received the first same-sex marriage license issued from the Richmond Circuit Court Clerk’s office then were married by gay-rights advocate The Rev. Robin Gorsline.

– WASHINGTON, D.C. (2010)

– WASHINGTON STATE (2012)

– WEST VIRGINIA (Oct. 6, 2014) – Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was studying the implications for the state in light of the Supreme Court decision.

– WISCONSIN (Oct. 6, 2014) – County clerks began accepting applications from gay couples for marriage licenses which, by Wisconsin law, can’t be issued until after a five-day waiting period. In Milwaukee and Dane counties, where most of the roughly 500 same-sex weddings took place this summer before a federal judge’s decision was put on hold, a few couples applied for licenses.

– WYOMING (Oct. 6, 2014) – A state case, scheduled for a court hearing Dec. 15, is similar to gay marriage cases in federal court but Wyoming supporters weren’t ready Monday to declare unconditional victory. They say same-sex marriage could be legal in the state by year’s end.

_____________________________

WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS NOT LEGAL AND CASES ARE PENDING:

– ALABAMA

– ALASKA

– ARIZONA – In a ruling that called into question Arizona’s gay marriage ban, a U.S. District Court judge handed a victory Sept. 12 to a gay man denied death benefits after losing his spouse to cancer.

– ARKANSAS – A state judge in May struck down the state’s ban. The state Supreme Court brought marriages to a halt and is weighing state officials’ appeal. Same-sex couples are also suing the state in federal court. The attorney general’s office has asked that proceedings in both cases be put on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to take up a case from Utah.

– FLORIDA – A federal judge declared the state’s ban unconstitutional in mid-August, joining state judges in four counties. He issued a stay delaying the effect of his order, meaning no marriage licenses would be issued immediately issued for gay couples.

– GEORGIA

– IDAHO – State officials are appealing a federal judge’s decision to overturn the state’s ban. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in San Francisco heard arguments Sept. 8 along with appeals from Hawaii and Nevada.

– KENTUCKY – Two Kentucky cases were among six from four states heard in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Aug. 6. Rulings are pending on recognition of out-of-state marriages, as well as the ban on marriages within the state.

– LOUISIANA – A parish judge ruled Sept. 22 that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional; the attorney general has appealed to the state’s Supreme Court.

– MICHIGAN – The state’s ban was overturned by a federal judge in March following a rare trial that mostly focused on the impact on children. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati heard arguments Aug. 6, and a ruling is pending.

– MISSISSIPPI

– MISSOURI – Attorney General Chris Koster announced Monday he wouldn’t appeal a state court order that Missouri recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states. But two other same-sex marriage cases are pending in Missouri. One is a federal challenge in Kansas City; the other is a St. Louis case that focuses on city officials who issued marriage licenses to four same-sex couples to trigger a legal test of the ban.

– OHIO – Two Ohio cases were argued Aug. 6 in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and a ruling is pending. In one, two gay men whose spouses were dying sued to have their out-of-state marriages recognized on their spouses’ death certificates. In the other, four couples sued to have both spouses listed on their children’s birth certificates.

– SOUTH DAKOTA

– TENNESSEE – The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Aug. 6 on an appeal of a federal judge’s order to recognize three same-sex couples’ marriages while their lawsuit against the state works through the courts. A ruling is pending.

– TEXAS – A federal judge declared the state’s ban unconstitutional, issuing a preliminary injunction. The state is appealing to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which is soon expected to set a date for arguments.